Ashtead posts record first-half profit December 11, 2012 Industrial equipment hire firm Ashtead today posted record first-half profit of £141m this morning, as it lifted profit expectations for the full year. First-half profit for Ashtead, which makes 85 per cent of its revenue from US arm Sunbelt, was up 64 per cent from £84m over the same period last year. Revenue over the [...]
Costa coffee boosts Whitbread sales December 11, 2012 Coffee chain Costa continued to boost hotel and restaurant group Whitbread, as the group this morning posted a 3.3 per cent rise in third quarter sales. The coffee brand reported UK like for like sales up 7.1 per cent over the 13 weeks to November, compared to 6.8 per cent growth in the first half. [...]
Diageo ends talks on Cuervo tequila December 11, 2012 Drinks maker Diageo this morning announced that long-running discussions between it and the Jose Cuervo tequila brand have ended. The talks, which have been in the offing for more than a year, had been widely expected to result in a deal for the world’s number one tequila brand. A short statement from the FTSE 100 [...]
Heathrow passenger traffic up 3.1 per cent year on year in November December 11, 2012 London airport Heathrow this morning posted a 3.1 per cent jump year on year in traffic figures in November, as 5.4m passengers passed through the airport over the month. Heathrow reported that its load factor – showing how full the average flight was – came in at 72.8 per cent. Passenger numbers to Europe were [...]
US regulator slaps record fine on HSBC December 10, 2012 HSBC has agreed to pay out a record $1.9bn (£1.2bn) to US authorities over charges related to money laundering, it emerged last night. In a major victory for prosecutors, the British bank will today admit to breaking laws by transferring billions from drug cartels and terrorists through the US financial system. The sum – an [...]
Clarke exits Man as hedge fund shakes up leadership December 10, 2012 MAN Group, the former Navy Rum-trader turned hedge fund, moved to placate long-suffering shareholders yesterday by parting ways with chief executive Peter Clarke and appointing hedge fund dynamo Manny Roman to lead the troubled firm. Man, which started life as a rum supplier to the British Navy before morphing into a complex money manager, saw [...]
Business warns of threat to the capital from tax and caps December 10, 2012 TAX RATES, immigration caps and hand-wringing over airport capacity are causing London to suffer in a global race for competitiveness, according to the latest studies of financial centres around the world. A report from business group London First, seen by City A.M., shows that while the UK’s capital remains one of the world’s most attractive [...]
US Treasury to sell final stake in insurer AIG December 10, 2012 THE US Treasury is selling its remaining stake in insurer American International Group (AIG), bringing an end to government ownership of the company four years after it was rescued from the brink of bankruptcy. In a statement last night, the Treasury said it launched an underwritten public offering for its remaining 234.2m shares of common stock. [...]
What the other papers say this Morning December 10, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Warning on cost of shares for rights George Osborne’s “shares for workers’ rights” initiative could end up costing Britain £1bn a year in lost revenues, the Office for Budget Responsibility has warned, at the same time as the government battles to clamp down on tax avoidance schemes. The long-term potential cost of the [...]
Rothschild says plan is backed by 11 investors December 10, 2012 BUMI co-founder Nat Rothschild said yesterday he had secured the backing of 11 investors for his counter proposal to restructure the London-listed miner. Bumi yesterday confirmed it had received an updated letter from Rothschild to counter the Bakrie brothers’ proposal from October to divorce themselves from the London miner. Rothschild’s updated proposal is understood to [...]